Strike the Moon
by ilarual
Summary: Maka Albarn was living a humdrum life, forever the third wheel in the background of her friends' romances, when she was suddenly transported to a mystical country. But the world is overshadowed, and it's up to Maka to save a foreign world... and the intriguing young god who rules it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N-** Oh look, another Reverb fic. This time it's a triple collaboration! Myself and fellow author l0chn3ss teamed up to write a story inspired by our artist, LunaiLegends, whose Reverb art was definitely a very unique AU, who drew some KiMa art based on the Korean fantasy golf game Pangya, so it was a wild ride to build a plot as good as our artist deserves!

As you will shortly see, we didn't nearly do the art justice (I'm blaming time constraints, frankly, because Lunai's idea would have been best served by a fantasy epic and Ness and I ran just a bit short of time lol), but here is our humble offering, nonetheless! MASSIVE shoutout to Jak and ProMa, who saved our bacon with their fabulous beta work.

* * *

The sun had slipped under the horizon less than a quarter of an hour before, but darkness was replacing the smoky twilight with unnatural swiftness. The stars were beginning to come alive in the sky above, but they seemed muted and sickly, as if seen through a black veil. They were faint enough that, despite how dark the moonless night was growing, they barely reflected at all in the shallow water of the ponds that lay scattered across the forested landscape below.

Beside one of those small lagoons, a woman sat alone by the edge of the water, her bare feet dabbling on the surface. She was built on a small scale, bony almost to the point of being gaunt save for her round face. Her silver hair shone far brighter in the darkness than the dimmed stars above her, and her dark eyes were wide and watchful, belying the careless swish of her feet in the water. A tiny island, perfectly flat and green, lay at the center of the lake just a few yards away, and the little plot of land seemed to be illuminated by the same strange radiance she herself possessed.

After some time spent in silence, her darting eyes froze in their skittering, locking onto a particular patch of darkness beneath the trees. She went very still, not even seeming to breathe.

Abruptly, a narrow flare of orange fire erupted just north of one of the massive black pines that fringed the clearing, a light even more brilliant than the shining silver hair of the silent watcher. The flames faded quickly, leaving the pale gleam of her hair once again the brightest light in the clearing, but in its wake, a second woman was left behind.

The first woman shielded her eyes at the first sight of the fire, visibly relaxing when she took in the form of her friend who'd appeared in front of her. She was far taller and much more curvaceous. Her hair also gleamed, unnaturally bright in the dimness, but where the other woman's long, straight locks glimmered like the stars, her night-dark curls seemed to shimmer with a violet inner fire, like the iridescence of a raven's feather.

"That was too flashy," the shorter woman said, standing up in the shallows. "We might not have very long as it is, no need to attract any more attention. I want to get out of this _alive_ , thank you very much!"

The other woman waved a casual hand. "You worry too much, Eruka. If you're prepared, we can be done in five minutes. You _are_ ready, right? You got the dimple open?"

Eruka gave the other woman a withering look. With a small gesture from her hand, another source of silver-white light sprang up from a small, circular hole directly in the center of the islet in the pond. The beam of light, as easily discernible in the gloom as if it had been passing through a cloud of chalk, shot upwards before the clarity of the beam faded out and dispersed into the surrounding air in a scattering of tiny silver sparks.

"Have a little faith in me, Blair! I may not be as powerful as you, but even I can break through a seal as weak as that one was. Clearly Asura was in a rush when he was here. It only took me ten minutes at the most. But what about you? Did you get it?"

Blair gave a decidedly feline grin. She reached into the bag she carried and produced an orb about the size of a walnut. It seemed to burn from within, a pulsing lavender fire shot through occasionally with sparks of creamy orange.

"It's so attuned to you already…" Eruka breathed.

Blair nodded, and even her bravado was tuned down into respectful complacency. "It _is_ a soul ball, after all," she said. "It isn't like your everyday object."

"Are you sure it's wise to waste it? These aren't exactly a dime a dozen, like you said, and we're going to need every last one we've got if Asura's to be defeated."

"They're all useless without someone to wield them, Kitten."

Eruka bit her lip nervously, but there was a capitulation in her eyes. "How did you get it, anyway? I can't imagine they would just let you walk—"

"Oh but they _did_ ," Blair said smugly. "Those darling Thompson girls let Blair right in once they knew what Blair was there for."

"You're kidding!"

She grinned at Eruka's skeptical look. "Blair certainly is not! They've seen me once or twice before. Besides, they're worried about Kid. How could they not be? Strikers' loyalty and all that. And the way things stand now, it's not as if he's actually able to use the balls himself. Asura could spit right in the poor thing's eye and Blair doubts he'd even blink."

Eruka nodded, though her expression was more scornful than sympathetic. "No help coming from him, definitely. You're right, we need someone from the outside, someone not so tethered to the world."

Blair's self-satisfied grin was back. "We've had this conversation before. And aren't you the one who said we have a time limit?"

The other woman's expression flipped from mildly annoyed to outright fearful. "You're right, we have to get moving. Give me the ball."

Blair tossed it to her, handling such a precious object so carelessly that Eruka would have punched her, if she weren't too busy catching the fragile soul ball. Immediately, the previously violet and orange flame faded into a burning black, shot through with the occasional flare of silver. Eruka's entire body was suffused with a jittering tingle— creatures such as Blair and herself weren't meant to touch something like this for long.

She stepped out onto the black surface of the pond, scattering starlight around her and leaving just a hint of a ripple across the glass-like water. She glanced over her shoulder and sighed heavily at the sight of Blair shedding her iridescent robe.

"Do you really have to do that?" she asked, one hand fiddling nervously with the seams of her own soft white skirt as she tried not to sneak too many peeks at her companion's disrobed body.

She shrugged. "Not all fairies can walk on water just like that, after all. Blair doesn't want her clothes to get wet."

Blair dropped the last article of clothing on the shore, now fully nude, and Eruka looked away with a blush, thinking to herself that the other woman's complete lack of self-consciousness was both a blessing and a curse.

She turned to walk across the water, so as not to be subjected to the frustrating sight of Blair doing the breaststroke across the pond.

Once they had both arrived again on dry land, they approached the little round hole in the very center of the islet. Eruka squatted down, knees bowed outwards like a frog's, and peered down into the hole, squinting slightly against the light that issued from it. "You're sure this is going to work?"

Blair knelt opposite her, and in the radiance that shone between them, the velvet amethyst light that twinkled in her hair spread to the rest of her, shining out through her skin as though she had gone translucent. She was always attractive, but now she was a different kind of beautiful, so much that she was hard to look at.

Eruka wondered if she looked the same.

"Do you want to do the honors?" she asked.

Blair shrugged and reached through the beam of light to take the ball from Eruka, and as it passed between them, the colors of their souls mingled for just a breath of time.

"So what exactly do we need to do, anyway?" she asked, once the jittering in her bones had subsided.

"Just putting it in the dimple will do," Blair said. "The world knows better than we do what kind of champion it needs."

She dropped the brightly-burning orb down into the hole with very little ceremony, and it vanished. For a moment, nothing happened…

And then the light rising from the dimple turned from silver to gold and flared up so brightly that they both threw up their hands to shield their eyes; the light was accompanied by a wash of intense heat that had both women scooting backwards to avoid being scorched.

* * *

It was frustrating enough, Maka thought, to be the third wheel on somebody else's date. What made an uncomfortable situation positively obnoxious was when the other two people at the table flatly refused to concede that it was a date.

Admittedly, Kim was still so deep in the closet she'd found Narnia, so maybe it wasn't so surprising that she kept insisting on bringing other friends along on these little "outings" with Jacqueline. Maka would've almost believed that Kim really _was_ straight, except for the fact that she wouldn't stop _flirting_. And flirting wasn't really Kim's thing, unless she wanted something from someone— and even then, she had to want whatever it was really badly. No, Maka was entirely certain that Kim was deep in denial, and all this doe-eyed giggling and touching Jackie lightly on the arm or hand every five minutes was her way of trying to get what she wanted.

Specifically, a girlfriend. Not that Kim seemed to be consciously aware of that.

Maka would have found it amusing if she didn't feel so bad for Jacqueline. The poor girl had carried a torch for her friend for years, and it was only recently that she'd been given even a glimmer of hope for reciprocation. God bless the miracle of bisexuality… and damn Kim's own obliviousness! It made Maka want to bash her face against the tabletop in frustration.

Well, the situation would boil over in time, and hopefully it would leave both of them with a happy relationship— and Maka _without_ the dubious honor of having to chaperone her friends on their Very Platonic Outing.

At least they were actually doing something fun this time. The little local coffee shop/bookstore Jacqueline had been dying to go to (and Kim had enthusiastically asked to visit when she found this out) was adorable, and Maka was enjoying the cozy atmosphere and peach iced tea.

It wasn't enough compensation, however, for having to witness Kim tapping Jacqueline on the shoulder and laughing loudly. "You're so funny, Jackie! Isn't she funny, Maka?"

Maka felt a bit nauseated by the spectacle. It was definitely time to get out of here before she smashed their faces together, anything to step up the timetable on resolving this romantic tension. "Yeah, you're right, Kim. Listen, guys, this has been fun, but I really need to go."

"What?" Kim asked, looking up at Maka with something close to panic on her face. "But you said you had the whole afternoon free!"

 _Shit_. "Well… um… I just remembered that my dad wants to teach me to golf!" That much, at least, was true. "I'd been trying to forget about it because, well, you know me, too much time alone with my papa is hazardous to his health, but I just got a text from him just now. So, bye-bye!" And with that, she slid off her stool and all but fled for the door, trying not to imagine her friends' bemused faces as they stared after her.

The coffee place had been located in an old Victorian house, gutted and refitted with new woodwork. Maka bounced down the steps and up the slate walkway to the low, wrought-iron gate that surrounded the property. After she'd pushed it open and stepped out onto the cement sidewalk beyond, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

 _Ugh, so awkward._

There was something about witnessing the romantic entanglements of her friends that had bothered her for a long time now— maybe since high school, even. Perhaps it was because she'd never managed to make a relationship last for more than two dates and one extremely awkward make-out session. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in dating, she just couldn't seem to find anyone she _wanted_ to date. And in the face of that, watching her friends in the bloom of a new romance (or, even worse, getting all lovey-dovey once a relationship had been established) was incredibly frustrating.

She started off walking down the lane, enjoying the fresh spring air and the dappled sunlight filtering down onto the sidewalk through the canopy of maple trees that lined the sidewalk.

 _Maybe I really will go visit Papa_ , she thought. _Might as well get it out of the way…_

Even as the thought occurred to her, something in the atmosphere changed. She paused, trying to figure out what it was that had put her senses on alert. The air around her warmed rapidly, the temperature rising from the breezy comfort of a late April afternoon to the sudden burning heat of August, and then hotter still. She broke out in inexplicable goosebumps, and her hair rose around her, sticking to her cheeks and shoulders with sudden static charge. The world around her shimmered as light became solid, surrounding her with a syrupy honey-gold shot through with sparks of brilliant twinkling fire.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she had even finished drawing a breath, she felt her body dissolve, and the world went black.

* * *

 **A/N part 2-** Alright, if you've managed to struggle through this far, we have a Very Important Message For The Reader!

ResBang (Resonance Bang, aka the Soul Eater fandom bigbang event, and Reverb's counterpart) is coming around again. It's an event that's open to all authors and artists, of all ships (or no ships at all, for that matter), skill levels, and inspirations. I'm not modding for Resbang like I am for Reverb so I really have no authority to speak as anything but another enthusiastic member of the fandom, but there's been a push lately in these big fandom events for more ship/character diversity, and I'm a huge fan of that whole concept. So if KiMa is your thing (and if you clicked in to read this I'm assuming it is XD) and you'd like to take the opportunity to represent your ship, then maybe you could check out the ResBang info and see if it's something you'd be interested in participating in?

There's a link to the ResBang infopost on my profile riiiiiight at the very top so that you can check it out and see if that's something you'd like to write or create art for. (And even if you don't... tell your friends, get the word out, so that nobody misses the chance to participate!) Sign ups are open until August 1st, so you've got time to think it over.

 **ALRIGHT, THE PSA IS OVER, IT'S BACK TO FIC-LAND NOW**


	2. Chapter 2

There was darkness around her, but she didn't feel alone. In fact, she didn't feel anything all, as if her mind was separated from all thoughts and all emotions. Yes, there was no sensation that could describe how empty she felt, how she drifted in the space aimlessly as if she were air, and yet, nothing was _wrong_. She felt complete. Content. Her presence stretched beyond herself and everything that she was, floating and simply existing. There was also something else, floating along with her, an entity, if she even were to call it such. If she were to give it a name, it would be "energy." And that energy pulsed and filled the spaces between her. It sparked, always reshaping and reforming to become something tangible, and then it was gone again.

But then, she felt the little pieces of herself coming back together, closer and closer, concentrated into a single shape. A form had appeared, still floating in that darkness, but it was "here" and it was "now."

"Energy" flashed once, gathering into symbols in front of her. A small triangle glowed, and a few lines etched through that darkness, shining in front of her, bathed in white. It had no meaning to her, but she was captivated. Willing the energy around her, she focused her attention onto that triangle and those little lines that added to one another. It grew as her curiosity grew, and then finally, she saw the light.

"▷ Press Start To Play"

What else was there to do except to follow the urge within her? And so it began.

* * *

Maka gasped, eyelids flying open as she jerked into a sitting position.

Her heart raced. Her clothes were wet. She felt cold, like a fog had settled into her body and a weight lay over her eyes. It was murky- she wasn't quite there yet, not where she needed to be.

A thick mist surrounded her, though she could make out some trees and maybe even a small lake just a few meters from where she was. Nothing seemed to be real. She was seeing the shadows of the landscape, shadows that seemed to have been from a fantasy.

Then the mist parted and a boy in cargo shorts and a plain black shirt stepped out with his arms wide open. He provided the only splash color so far in the grey landscape. He was someone who she felt immediately drawn to, and she could sense that it was his ambiance that filled the mist.

She stared shamelessly at him as he floated closer to her. His black hair stood out in particular, with three thick lines running through only one side of his head, and she couldn't help but to wonder if she'd seen the skull emblem on his palms before. There was no way he should have felt familiar, much less comforting to see, and yet she felt the corners of her lips curl upwards and a warmth within her chest grow.

His feet touched the water in front of her, just resting on the surface, and he dropped his arms slowly. His eyes opened, and Maka felt as if she had seen the sun again. The gold in his irises broke through her haze, through all of the fuzz in her mind, and pierced her, giving her strength to stand. They shone through the mist, clearing the area around them, showing her the beautiful green lawn and the clear lake that glistened under the moon.

And he stood directly under it, shining like the sun under the silver stars. She could see the cherry blossom trees around her now; they were ethereal. Pink petals blew in the gentle breeze, fluttering but never touching the lake. They gathered on her clothing, clinging to the wetness of the fabric, emitting a soft glow.

"You're here."

Maka let her breath go. "Yeah, who… who are you?"

A wooden stick appeared next to her, bathed in a blue glow. She peered at it, and then back at the boy.

"What's this?"

"Take it."

And she did. She snatched it from the air, as if his voice compelled her, and immediately after it touched her fingers, the tip morphed into a lopsided nub and the wood became softer under her hand. Maka looked up at the kid, wondering if he could explain the sensation that radiated from the object. Why did it seem to flow with power, and why did it transform with her touch? But her questions went unanswered, and, as if by indescribable magic, a new stream of knowledge filled her.

A small ball, one as gold as the boy's eyes, dropped in front of her. She followed the movement, bobbing her head as it bounced onto the grass and settled over the blades.

Her body moved on its own like a puppet on strings. She grabbed the stick with both of her hands stepped backwards, and holding it out to her right side, pointing the nub at the ball. Her feet planted into the ground and she bent her knees just little, only enough to get the boy's approving nod.

Maka twisted her body and drew her arm back over her shoulder. She could tell just how far back she could reach, and how far she could be stretching. She glanced up at the boy, as if asking for his approval, and nodded his head at her silently.

She drew the stick back again, reaching what she knew was her maximum potential, then swung with all her might.

She hit the ball square in the middle, flinging it into the sky where it disappeared into the full moon.

In the seconds that followed, it exploded like a firework, lighting up the sky above them. The boy smiled softly and she felt her heart flutter. A brightness caught her attention again, though this time, it came from her body.

The petals against her skin morphed together, transforming into a single layer. It twisted, arched, and elongated over her old clothing, and she could feel the fabric changing right over her. Then, it slowed. The blossoms fell off of her, revealing a shell-pink dress with a flared skirt made out of some soft crêpe material.

She was breathless. Her eyes met once again with the boy, but his form was flickering. There was so much more she wanted to ask- how she got here, who he was, what she was doing here. But he snapped his fingers, and Maka opened her eyes again.

As the handsome boy vanished and the thick mist dissipated, so did the fog in her mind. The soft haze of unreality faded as her thoughts and rationality returned, and the sense of warmth and safety that had suffused her during her time with the beautiful stranger leached away. Her breath quickened as she abruptly realized that she had absolutely no clue where she was.

"Um… hello?" she called tentatively.

Cherry trees swayed softly in the breeze, leaves and petals rippling under the shards of interrupted moonlight, but for a long moment there was no sound.

Then, from out of the darkness, a pair of lights brighter and more reassuring than the stars burst forth. They were too far away for Maka to see them clearly, but they bathed the grass and the trees with glows of soft silver and warm apricot. As she stood staring, the lights began to move closer to her, growing brighter as they approached. Her pulse pounded, fear and awe boiling in her veins, but she was rooted to the spot.

Within moments, the lights had clarified into the shape of two women, both very beautiful, who approached Maka. As their radiance fell on her, she felt somewhat abashed— a little too mortal in comparison.

"Thank goodness you're here," the shorter of the two said. "And not a moment too soon."

Maka blinked. "Come again?"

The taller, curvier woman grinned at her. "Don't mind my adorable little colleague here," she said. "Eruka likes to hop right past all the important things when she's nervous. What's your name, Kitten?"

"Um… Maka."

The woman tilted her head to one side, studying Maka with a pleased expression. "Maka… that's pretty," she said. "A pretty name for a pretty girl. My name is Blair."

Still utterly baffled as to what the hell was going on, Maka said, "Nice to meet you. Um… I'm really sorry but… where exactly am I? And how did I get here? And why was she—" She pointed at the silver-haired woman who, she presumed, must be Eruka, "—talking like you've been expecting me?"

"We summoned you," Eruka said.

"Summoned—?"

"Yes! We're chronos fairies, and we sent a summons to your world to plead for a savior who can help us rid the land of Asura's curse of darkness!" Blair said cheerfully.

Maka stared. "Come again?"

Blair drooped a bit. "This is going to take more explaining, isn't it?"

Maka just looked at her, a satirical arch to her brow.

"If we're going to settle down for a big long story-telling session, can we go somewhere else?" Eruka asked, glancing about her nervously. "I don't like being this close to where we brought her in. There's too much free magic in the air, and nothing attracts unwanted attention faster."

Blair flicked a lock of violet-black hair over her shoulder and nodded. "Blair knows the perfect place we can go!" she exclaimed.

She grabbed Maka's hand enthusiastically, and a moment later, Eruka had softly taken the other. Maka opened her mouth to ask what they were doing, but then the world dissolved in fire.

The breath she had taken seemed to boil her lungs. She felt oddly stretched out, like her skin was pulled too tightly, and she thought she might burst from the pressure.

The pain lasted only for a few moments, but it was several moments too long in Maka's opinion, and she collapsed to her knees the instant it was over. She almost fell entirely had it not been for the firm grasp Eruka and Blair still had on her hands, and she sagged in their grip, coughing weakly.

"Oh," Blair said, sounding concerned, "I always forget that our way of traveling doesn't agree with humans."

"Are you alright, love?" Eruka asked, tightening her grip on Maka's hand and sounding just a bit panicky.

Finally managing to draw a breath that didn't sear her lungs, she looked up at her. "Not really, I feel pretty crispy," she said hoarsely.

"I'm so sorry, Kitten," Blair said, and before Maka could protest, she leaned down and scooped Maka up in her arms, carrying her as easily as if she were a doll.

She was settled gently down on something soft, and a cup was thrust into her hand. She sniffed at it suspiciously, unwilling to drink anything offered to her by a stranger, especially under these conditions. Still, it didn't have a fragrance and appeared to just be water, and there was a pretty strong chance she was hallucinating anyway. This had to be some kind of fever dream, because the last thing she remembered before ending up… _wherever_ she was, was feeling faint and overheated. Maybe she was drugged up in the hospital? Or maybe the coffeeshop had roofied her iced tea.

It really was just water, she realized as she drank tentatively, and it tasted faintly of cucumber, cooling her throat and clearing her head. She took a few deep breaths through her nose, studying her surroundings. She was in what appeared to be a tidy little efficiency apartment, just a single room with white walls and two matching armchairs upholstered with pretty lilac-patterned fabric, each of which was being occupied by one of the so-called "fairies" who had brought her here. Maka was seated on what she now recognized to be the single bed.

She took another sip of the water, trying to gather her thoughts.

It was possible that this really was all a dream or hallucination. Maybe she had passed out from low blood sugar and struck her head on the concrete, or maybe she had a brain tumor, or something. She was probably in a hospital bed somewhere, hooked up to a zillion machines.

But if she wasn't…

If this was real, she couldn't afford to pretend it was just a dream. If it _wasn't_ real, playing along wouldn't hurt anything. And it wasn't like she could do anything about reality while she was unconscious, anyway.

Alright. She would just work under the assumption that this was real, and deal with everything else later.

Decision made, Maka raised her eyes and stared down her two… _whatever they were_. Guides? Captors? Allies? Kidnappers? Regardless…

"Where are we?" she asked.

"You're in the realm of Pangya," Blair proclaimed. "And this—" She gestured around grandly. "—is my apartment!"

Maka wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. "Didn't you say you're a fairy? I didn't think fairies lived in ordinary apartments."

Blair grinned. "Most don't. My friend and I are a little... _unconventional_." She winked.

Deciding that now was not the right time to deal with that line of questioning, she said, "Okay, fine. Now you two owe me some answers," she said. "How the hell did I get here, and what's this nonsense about me being some kind of savior?"

Blair opened her mouth to speak, but Eruka reached out and touched her forearm softly, and her enthusiasm simmered down into a gentler smile.

"As Blair said, you're in the realm of Pangya," Eruka said. "As best we understand it, it's a universe running parallel to but separate from yours. Different string frequency, faster time stream, the usual oddities. But that's beside the point. Our world is a beautiful one… or at least, it was. In some places, it still is. The place where you arrived is one of those, which is why we chose that spot to summon you.

"This world was created thousands upon thousands of years ago by the One, who brought forth land and life from the void. As he shaped the universe, he buried the heart of a star at the center of our world, so that we would always have the magic and the majesty of the heavens beneath to keep us warm, and for many a century the world was good and bright. We chronos fairies were born from the light of the stars, and other creatures were born of the earth and of the sea, including humans of many kinds. It was a beautiful time, back then at the start," she said wistfully.

"Why do I sense a 'but' coming?" Maka asked.

Blair chuckled. "There is one, Kitten. You see, the One wasn't the only thing born out of the beginning of time. Another being came out of the void between the stars, a dark soul who calls himself Asura."

Maka nodded. "You said something about Asura's curse before."

"Yes, we're coming to that now," she said. "Asura is… not so nice."

Eruka snorted, presumably at what Maka assumed to be an understatement, and Blair gave her a quelling look.

" _Anyway_ , after ever so long watching the world and waiting in the void for the opportune moment, he made his move."

"He covered the world in night and smothered our star-heart with clay, because it's magic is anathema to him," Eruka said, picking up the thread of the tale again. "And he rose up in rebellion and cast the One down in ruin. But before he died, he breathed life into a son, his last gift to the world, and summoned forth a champion to aid him in the fight against Asura. His champion was a strong and terrible warrior, and with his dying breath he named his son Kid, who dwells with us still today. Together they overthrew Asura and restored peace and light to the world."

Blair leaned in conspiratorially and said, in a mock-whisper, "They were lovers, you know, Kid and that warrior, who was born from the star-heart."

Eruka looked mildly scandalized. "We don't know that that's true!" she exclaimed. "It's only shameless gossip. Kid has never spoken of it, and the Champion has long since passed out of the world."

Maka was a very smart girl, and even from her hosts' rambling story-telling, she was starting to piece together where they were going with this. "So let me guess," she said. "Asura's back, right? And since this Kid guy's champion is gone, you need a new one."

"You catch on quick," Blair said, grinning at her.

"We can't count on help from Kid this time," Eruka said. She was playing with the ends of her hair, tugging on it nervously. "He was born into the world, see, not outside it like his father, and his life force is tied to the fate of Pangya. As the world goes out of balance, so does he, and he's very weak now, nearly mortal."

Maka frowned. "Doesn't sound like a very effective god."

Blair's heretofore cheerful expression slipped. "Ordinarily he is," she said, in a tone that even Maka, who had known her for all of thirty minutes (if that) could tell was uncharacteristically stern. "Having a god so attuned to the world makes him an incredibly effective ruler. He keeps the world in perfect balance."

"Or at least, he used to. But then Asura just had to come back around and wreck everything," Eruka said bitterly. "So we need you to restore the balance. Kid can't defeat Asura as things are, so we need you to help reopen the dimples."

"The what?"

"The dimples! They're little holes in the ground, right down to the center of the world, to allow the star's magic to come up to the surface," Blair explained. "Asura's been going around plugging them up, which is how things have gotten so accursed in the first place."

The picture was starting to come into focus somewhat for Maka, but her insatiable need to understand was still unsatisfied. If she was going to play along with this whole thing, she needed to know _exactly_ what she was getting herself into.

"So how exactly am I supposed to open them up?" she asked. "And if it's as simple as that, why can't _you_ do it?"

"You have to use special soul balls to _permanentl_ y crack open Asura's seals," Eruka said with a shrug. "The most we can do with our magic is temporarily dissolve them. And the soul balls tend to be too powerful for anyone from this world to hold onto for too long. We fairies can manage for a little bit longer than humans, but everyone from this world vibrates on the same frequency, so to speak."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that if we carry a soul ball for too long, we get sick, let alone trying to carry as many of them as you'd need to really make a difference."

And with that, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. "So you need somebody who isn't going to be affected."

Blair grinned, a feral, feline sort of smile that made Maka nervous. "Exactly."

* * *

Maka had expected that she would be too wired to sleep much, despite Eruka's entreaties that she rest. She had too much to process. An impossible, beautiful world under siege, and only she, some sort of chosen one, would be able to save it. Gods and fairies and demons from beyond the stars…

It was like something out of a novel, and it terrified and delighted her in equal measure. How many times had she dreamt of something like this as a little girl, dreamt of being important and powerful and heroic? She had fully anticipated lying awake until dawn trying to absorb and understand it all, but her exhausted body had other ideas. From the ache in her limbs to her weary eyes, she was seduced to slumber, not waking until dawn had passed and gone.

She opened her eyes and squinted against the sunshine that streamed through the open window. She sat up and looked around.

Blair was curled up on one chair, legs tucked underneath her as she basked in a sunbeam, a look of utter contentment on her face. She clutched a mug of tea in one hand, the other playing idly with Eruka's hair.

The other fairy was seated on the floor in front of her partner, embroidering what was unmistakably a golf cap. It wouldn't have been so unusual, if she weren't stitching some sort of odd eldritch symbol and using thread that appeared to be nothing more than blinding, iridescent light.

Maka decided not to comment.

"Morning!" Blair chirped, having noticed that she was awake.

Maka returned the greeting absently, getting to her feet. She regretted sleeping in her clothes, but she was glad it was this soft little dress she was wrapped in and not the clothes she had been wearing before she'd been "beamed up." Sleeping in denim was not a fun time.

"Come on, sleepy-head!" Blair said. "We've got to get a move-on if we're going to find you a compatible striker and head off to Kid's place!"

She grimaced. As Eruka and Blair had explained more about what they were expecting her to do— with no consideration whatsoever as to whether or not she actually wanted to do it— she had come to understand how, exactly, this all would work and it was basically… well…

It was basically golf.

She had tried to bring this up to the two fairies the night before, but they had just looked at her in puzzlement. By then she had given up trying to explain that what they viewed as a ritual designed to restore balance and cleanse the world of evil, the people in her dimension treated as a game for rich middle-aged white guys. And it was a game that, unfortunately, she didn't know how to play. It was her own fault, admittedly, that she had never let her father teach her. Now, as hard as it was to believe, she somewhat regretted that particular life choice... to an extent.

There _was_ one _particular_ aspect of the Pangya version of golf (or whatever the hell they called it; Blair had called it some horrifyingly unpronounceable name with about forty syllables that even multilingual Maka couldn't make sense of) that differed wildly from the Earth version. Namely, that the golf clubs were also _people_. "Strikers," Eruka had called them, were people born with the power to transform into clubs, and having a good partner was essential to the success of the game.

"How exactly do I find a striker?" she asked.

Eruka shrugged, not looking up from her stitching. "At the Striker's Guild hall, of course. Strikers gather there when not employed. People aren't reopening many dimples these days— like we told you last night, people from this world _can't_ , not permanently, since Asura's plugged them up— so most strikers aren't getting many requests these days. You should have your pick."

* * *

Eruka's prediction, as it turned out, was a little too optimistic.

When the two fairies led her through a quaint little village to the building at the end of a tree-lined lane, Maka had assumed there would be at least a handful of potential strikers for her to choose from.

As it was, there were only two.

The bulky woman, with a face like a benign but distinctly wild-eyed toad, was rejected on sight. She was probably a perfectly respectable striker, but she also had to be at least fifty, and Maka was reluctant to drag someone who could very well have a family and children into her quest. Besides, she was completely absorbed in what looked like a distinctly tarty novel, and Maka was willing to bet she hadn't even noticed her entrance. A fellow lover of literature might make a nice companion, but Maka had never really developed a taste for smutty romances, possibly for the same reasons she was unenthusiastic about watching her friends fall in love right in front of her. So the woman was out.

The other option, admittedly, was not much more promising.

He was an odd-looking boy around her age, with white hair so pale it put even Eruka's gleaming silver locks to shame, and a face that seemed to be made entirely of sharp angles. She supposed he might be considered good-looking, but Maka couldn't help but compare him to the young man who had appeared to her when she first awoke in Pangya. She didn't know why that handsome face was still on her mind, but it was, and the lone striker was a little too rough-looking for her taste.

He didn't look at her, instead he remained focused on the sandwich he was munching on, but his posture straightened and she got the sense that he was perfectly aware that she was there anyway.

Maka marched up to him. "Hi!" she greeted him once she was standing directly next to him.

"Who're you?" he asked glancing at her with startlingly red eyes.

She offered him a bright smile. "My name's Maka!" she said. "I'm here to find a striker."

"Well, you've come to the right place." He cast a look around the nearly-empty guild hall, then looked back at her with a sardonic expression in his eyes. "Not a whole lot of demand for strikers these days; people have been taking up other work."

"So why haven't you?" she asked, genuinely curious.

He shrugged. "Not good at much else. So, what're you thinking? Standard nine holes? Eighteen?"

Maka shook her head. "Actually, I'm on a kind of quest. I'm going to try to open up enough dimples to defeat Asura."

His eyes widened. "Are you _insane?_ Don't you know what Asura does to people who oppose him? That's why people don't strike anymore, even recreationally, and everybody's out of a damn job! No, no way, find another guy, I'm not signing up for any crazy quest."

"But how is he ever going to be stopped if someone doesn't _try?_ " she protested. "He's hurting people, isn't he? Hurting the whole _world?_ Somebody has to stand up to him!"

"Yeah, well, find another striker, because I'm not the guy for the job. And I'm guessing Auntie over there—" He jerked his thumb in the direction of the older woman "—isn't all that keen on the idea either."

"I have to admit, it sounds pretty foolish," the woman called out from across the room. "Very courageous, and I wish you luck, but I'm afraid these old bones aren't quite as strong as they used to be."

The white-haired boy looked at her as if to say, _See? I told you so._

"Fine," she said with a huff. "I'll do it on my own, then."

She stomped out of the guild hall and into the bright sunlight, where Blair and Eruka were waiting for her.

"So?" Blair asked, straightening up from where she'd been invading Eruka's personal space. "Who's going to be joining you?"

Maka glowered at her. "There were only two people in there, and neither of them wanted to help. Where else can we go to find a striker?"

Blair and Eruka glanced at each other. "Perhaps one of the Thompsons…?" Eruka suggested.

"It can't hurt to ask," Blair said with an eager nod. "And she has to go see Kid anyway." She hummed out a small noise in the back of her throat as if she wasn't bothered at all.

"What? But I don't have a striker!" Maka gestured at her empty hands. "I thought we were going to find one before we met up with him?"

"No need, Kid has two. Maybe he'll lend you one! Or maybe you can help us without a striker." She gave a small wink. "The first champion was able to."

"I don't even know him, Blair," Maka pouted. "I'm not even like the previous guy you all talk so much about. And besides, if Kid, or Child, or whatever his name is, is as psychotic as Asura, then why would he want to help someone like me?"

"Because this is his world, Maka. You were brought here with his power, and perhaps he'll take one look at you and decide you're cute enough to handle it."

"I don't think we have to meet him. What if he decides that I'm disrupting his balance even more? We can just do it on our own, can't we? Didn't you say that I was a champion?"

Eruka shook her head. "There's no point in a title unless you live up to it, right? And why wouldn't he want to help his own world?"

Maka grumbled, annoyed at needing to rely on anyone for help, even if she was in their world. But a small part of her was curious about who this god was. If he was as old as the two fairies had implied, would he look it? Would he look like some ancient old man, or a perhaps a skeleton like the grim reaper? Or did aging even apply to gods? Who knew, maybe he could even change his shape at will! That seemed like the kind of power a god would have.

With those thoughts in mind, she walked a little faster towards his mansion which, according to Eruka, was just a mile or two down the road.

* * *

Maka had expected, somehow, that they were going to continue working together for as long as she was here in Pangya. When they arrived in front of the large house— palace, really— that stood at the end of a shaded private lane off the main road, however, Blair and Eruka stopped in their tracks a good thirty yards from the gate.

"Well, aren't we going to go and knock?" Maka asked, feeling nervous in the shadow of that high, dark building behind its imposing gates.

Blair shook her head. "We told you, Kitten, we shouldn't be around the soul balls for too long. With a regular human, touching them or being close to them will mess you up something awful. Strikers are different, of course, they were made for that kind of contact. But us? Our magic would get all warped out of shape, and probably leave the soul balls useless!"

"It's no good, us coming with you," Eruka continued. "But here, I made you something." She held up the hat she had been embroidering earlier. The sigil she had stitched into it wasn't shining bright the way it had been that morning, but it gleamed with an eerie light nonetheless. "It's magic," she explained. "The runes will protect you from bad luck. I can't offer you protection against Asura, but I can at least make your travels easier. No need to worry about rainy nights without shelter or collapsed bridges just when you need to cross a river, that sort of thing!"

Maka accepted the cap with a numb kind of gratefulness. "Thank you," she mumbled, but as the reality that she was being abandoned sank in, she pleaded: "Are you absolutely sure you can't come along?"

"It's your journey," they said together, joining hands.

"But don't worry," Blair said with a wink. "We'll keep an eye on you just the same."

A small breeze whipped around their ankles and they burst into a shower of sparkles, orange and purple, merging together until they eventually disappeared into thin air.

"Great," she mumbled to herself. "Just great."

Not only was she in a strange land, but now she was alone. And as Maka stepped in front of the dark iron gates, she began to feel a little lost. Maybe even... afraid?

She was in an unfamiliar place, abandoned by the two women were the only ones who knew what was going on and who claimed that she was chosen to save their world. No one else wanted to help her, not even the boy nor the woman who were supposed to be looking for someone like her to claim them. The weight on her shoulders gained in mass as she continued to push the bars. They creaked open, and then came two other girls, running down the dirt path, leaving a dust trail behind them.

"Woah woah _woah_! If you're going to come in, you have to open both!"

 _Huh?_

The elder looking one grabbed the handle and nodded at the other as she gripped the adjacent gate. They swung it open in a quick motion, both sides hitting the bars behind them at the same time.

"Ah, that would've raised an alarm. Good work Patti."

"Yessir!"

Maka just blinked. They seemed to have come out of nowhere. They looked too much alike to be anything but sisters, blue eyes and long legs and lovely blonde locks that made Maka instantly conscious of her own thin hair.

"Blair sent us," the taller one said. "Said that you'd be coming here soon. Didn't tell us how soon, but soon."

"Gave us a call about'cha and a new recipe for a facial mask last night."

"I'm sorry, who…?" Two strange women had appeared into her life again. When would this trend end?

"That's Liz," the shorter of the two said, pointing to the other.

"And that's my sister, Patti," Liz said, jerking her thumb in her sister's direction.

"We're the Thompson sisters, strikers extraordinaire, permanently in service to His Holiness, Kid the Almighty!" Patti exclaimed.

Liz gave her sister a dubious look. "I thought he told you to stop calling him that."

Patti grinned. "He did. I didn't listen."

Maka couldn't help but feel a little endeared to the two, but she was on a mission and refused to let herself be distracted by their banter. She placed her hands on her hips and nodded to the distant mansion. Channeling every cheesy alien invasion movie she had ever watched, she said, "Take me to your god."

And they did.

Liz walked behind as Patti tugged her, complimenting her outfit while she ignored any further questions. Maka would get no answers here, but maybe their master, Kid would be able to help her out. She glanced over at the girls one by one, wondering which one of them could be joining her, or if they were even interested at all.

They were both friendly enough that their trip uphill went by quickly; they purposefully stopped in front of the mansion to let Maka take it in.

It was huge- more like a vampire's lair from a horror movie than a home being occupied.

Then the doors clicked open, the entrance widening as Maka walked tentatively up the porch steps. A citrus scent rushed out, filling her nostrils, and her eyes struggled to adjust in the darkness of the main hall. She looked behind her at the sisters, but they ushered her in further with eager faces.

At first, she couldn't see the man within very clearly. He had his back to her, and with his dark suit and hair equally dark except for the three white stripes that ran in concentric circles around his hair, he almost blended in with the darkness. But he raised his hand and a spark of fire appeared above his palm, small but blinding and golden as sunshine… golden as his eyes when he turned around to face her.

Maka gasped in shock. It was _him_.

She stepped forwards, staring at the handsome face she hadn't been able to get out of her head since last night. "I really hope you're not just some dream," she breathed.

A smile cracked on his face, and she chided herself for speaking out loud.

"It's a pleasure."

A snort came from behind her. "No it's not. You yelled at us for hours after you noticed one of your soul balls was missing."

"Look, Patti-"

"You also said you wouldn't help anyone else besides Bla-"

"Ok, but you-"

"Also! You said you were worried about-" Patti paused, smiling at Kid with a raised eyebrow, continuing only when he rolled his eyes and waved his hands to continue. "- about dragging more people into this."

Liz stepped in before her sister could tease him further. "What she means to say, is welcome, Maka, and we're all a little concerned about you coming here to help. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Maka took a moment to take in what she'd gotten herself into. She had been dragged into this world against her own will, forced to save it and the boy, no, the God that stood in front her now with questioning eyes. He looked weaker than the one who appeared before, the one who'd first greeted her in her dream. She couldn't help but to feel a bit sorry for him, even though she had no obligation nor a reason to. Yet…

"If I can help, I want to do it," Maka said firmly. "Besides, I'm already here, aren't I?"

She heard wild clapping behind her along with a sigh of defeat, but the only thing she registered was his discreet smile of relief and that the orb of fire burned a little brighter.

"Well then, I'd like to introduce you to the heir of the One, the ruler of this realm, the god of this land, Death the Kid," Liz and Patti gestured grandly to him, and he took a small, slow bow.

Maka dipped into a curtsy, and she lowered her head to him. "Pleased to meet you, erm…"

"Kid is fine, and please don't bow like that." He stepped forward, resting a hand on one of her shoulders as she rose back to meet his golden eyes, ones brighter than the fire he held in his other hand.

"Nice to meet you then, Kid."

"Likewise, Maka."

She cleared her throat, tearing her eyes away from his before they would melt her. "I was instructed to come here for equipment? To open the dimples to let in more good energy into the world. I think… it's supposed to help you, too."

Silence rose between them as Kid took in what she was asking of him, his face passive and deep in thought. Finally he responded, only to ask her what kind of equipment she was talking about.

"I think I need a striker, and also your balls?" Her face reddened the moment those words left her lips. "I meant the magic golf- erm, the soul balls."

He looked at her questionly but mentioned nothing about her slip. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you have either of those. You see, I need both Liz and Patti as my attendants, and I can't just hand out the soul balls." His eyes hardened. "Not without a match."

 _Wait, what?_

"Hold on." Maka raised her hand in front of her. "I thought-"

"I do want to assist you, but we need to test if you're worthy enough to use them. The soul balls are fickle, and not everyone can withstand their power, you know." He cast a look at Liz. "Even if some fairies and humans have some basic skill."

"I can handle it with a striker," she countered.

"Prove it."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

Kid shrugged, "Just a quick traditional game of Pangya, a test if you will, one that will show if you're ready or if you're just talk." His voice grew low. "We'll play with the nine dimples in my backyard. Liz and Patti tend to them so they should be open and ready. If you can beat me, I'll lend you a striker and a bag of soul balls you can take on your journey."

"Fine." She stomped her foot impatiently. "Are we going to get to it or not?"

Kid smiled eerily, flicking his hands to the side, and from the motion materialized two round orbs at his side. They sparked, growing as the light collected, sticking together into a mass of orange embers. Maka stood there, transfixed at the brilliance. He nodded to the sisters, prompting Liz to stand next to Maka as Patti crossed over to stand by her master.

"Let's see if you can really beat me."

* * *

No, she couldn't.

And as she beat the ground with her fists, Kid and Patti high fived each other in celebration as Maka screamed inwardly. She wasn't a great golfer and she knew that, but still she tried to ignore how off-balanced Liz had felt in her hands. She'd even attempted to ride on the knowledge that Kid was supposed to be weaker, supposedly because of Pangya's calamity. And yet, she still wasn't good enough.

Although Patti had reached for Maka's hand, she swatted it away, asking to be left alone for a while. The three of them looked at each other warily, their eyes suddenly worried. Still, they obliged, walking back in though the backyard's door and letting it click behind them as they went back inside.

Upon swinging the heavy doors shut, Maka picked herself off of the ground and strode through the yard alone, by some miracle not getting lost along the way. She kicked angrily at the border of the rough, dislodging a tuft of grass from the soil and getting dirt all over the pretty white shoes Blair had given her. She'd always thought she was cut out for the heroine gig. Maybe it was the result of losing herself in so many novels, but she'd always thought that someday when her number was called, she'd be strong and brave and noble and save the day easily.

Sometimes, reality could be a real bitch.

She wished Blair and Eruka would come back. Without them, she felt abandoned and directionless. They had brought her to this strange world and just… pointed her toward the horizon and _left_. What the hell kind of magical guide _did_ that? This was _not_ how things happened in books.

"I gotta admit, you've got more guts than I gave you credit for," a familiar husky voice called, jerking her out of her melancholy thoughts.

Maka whipped around, and to her surprise she saw the white-haired boy from earlier emerge from distant forest beyond the fence of Kid's backyard. He ambled towards her, hands shoved in his pockets.

"I thought you said you didn't want anything to do with me," she said warily.

He shrugged. "Couldn't pass up the opportunity to watch Kid kick some newbie's ass."

Maka glared. "Asshole."

He flashed her a smug grin. "And proud. Hey, listen, you still need a striker?"

She looked at him suspiciously. "What's it to you? I thought you didn't want anything to do with my 'crazy quest'?"

"Changed my mind," he said, withdrawing one hand from his pocket to scratch awkwardly at his cheek. "Just… thought about what you said about needing to stand up to Asura. I still think you're crazy, but I got nothing better to do."

Well, it wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, right?

"Besides," he said, "it's probably not going to work anyway."

She narrowed her eyes. "What, defeating Asura?"

He shook his head. "Nah, you and me, partnering up. I don't tend to click with people, like we're on the wrong wavelength or something. That's why nobody ever hires me."

"Is that why you were still sticking it out at the guild hall?" she asked. "Nobody wanted you so it was safe to stay?"

"Gee, when you put it like that…"

Maka rolled her eyes. "Shut up, let's just partner up. What's your name, anyway?"

"Soul."

Well, it wasn't the weirdest name she'd ever heard. "Maka," she responded in kind. "Now let's go find Kid before he gets too far away and show him what-for!"

"I feel like I'm gonna regret this…" Soul muttered.

Maka raced off in the direction Kid and his strikers had disappeared to, and she could tell from the footsteps behind her that Soul was following. It was odd, but having a striker of her own who wasn't on loan from Kid made her feel more confident about her ability to match up to him and prove she could do this.

* * *

Kid hadn't moved far from where Maka'd last left him, but whether that was due to the lack of time between their encounters or not, she didn't know. Instead, he merely raised an eyebrow as she stormed by, and then his golden eyes narrowed when he saw the one trailing behind her.

"You've found a striker," he noted. Maka didn't miss the way his eyes rolled over to her new shadow.

"And I demand a rematch," she said. His golden eyes snapped back to hers, and she tried hard to ignore that strange shiver that ran through her spine. It was that whole god-thing, after all.

Kid merely stared thoughtfully back. "And have you two played together before?" At her stupified silence, he sighed. "I thought not. You know, these things don't magically click together - Liz is an exception, she's been under my tutelage. She can adapt."

"What are you implying?" hissed Soul from behind her. Maka resisted the urge to stomp on his foot.

"Nothing," Kid said offhandedly. "But if you want that rematch, I guess I have time still."

Maka's rush of gratitude was offset by Soul's snort of derision.

Either way, she followed Kid out to the greens once more, Liz and Patti already present by some strange power. Like last time, Kid stood aside in a courteous gesture to her. With a flash of silver-white light, Soul's body from beside her shrunk and regrew into the shape of a golf club.

There was something different in her hands, a comfortable hum that hadn't been present with Liz previously. Even if it weren't for the fact it felt as if he were built, custom-made, just for her, there was a strange familiarity she felt with her Striker. As she marvelled at the newly acquired sensation, she slowly realized that the warmth she felt was a _vastly_ different warmth she felt from Kid. Especially as he stared into her back, before he coughed politely.

Right.

She drew back, her muscles already familiar with the motion though it was foreign to her not long ago, and then - she released. The soul ball went flying - much farther than it had when she'd last putted with Liz - before landing, rolling toward the dimple.

While she celebrated internally, she wasn't quite sure why she felt a whiff of annoyance coming from the God as he gently nudged her over.

* * *

Maka lost again.

Granted, she was much closer than the last- and as she stood, rather dumbfounded, in their hall, it took her three seconds to gather herself before she spoke.

"Just once more. Please- actually, why am I even arguing this with you? I'm doing this for _you_." Frustration no longer unbidden, Maka wasn't quite sure _why_ she was pushing it so hard, why she felt so offended and disappointed at the same time. She didn't even ask for this in the first place- and yet her feelings were so conflicted, because she wanted to help him, though he was acting quite like an Ungrateful Shit despite the fact this was all for _him_ in the first place.

Even still, Kid sighed. His eyes rolled from her, then up to the Thompsons, before settling back onto hers. "Don't bother." His tone was deceptively warm for someone about to shut her down (and that prospect bothered her more than she liked to admit). "You clearly don't know when to give up when people tell you to quit."

That stung Maka, both in the ego and in the heart. "You also have shown you can improve and make decisions under pressure. Those are both qualities that will help you defeat Asura."

"Thanks- wait, what?" She wasn't quite sure if she heard right, and she blinked owlishly as Kid smiled. It was just a small one, but it sent her heart fluttering lowly - _definitely_ different from anything she'd known before.

"You heard me. I'll help you defeat him."


	3. Chapter 3

They set up camp about a mile from the 18-hole series they were planning on opening up that evening. Over the four months— give or take a week— that the five of them had been traveling together, they had learned pretty quickly that it was best to get their shelter set up ahead of time… and that farther away from their chosen series was better. The sudden influx of magical power as the dimples were opened tended to draw down the servants of Asura. Sleeping right on the spot was unwise.

It was a lesson they'd learned the hard way only two weeks into their journey. Maka had had a successful nine holes and they had been flying high as they prepared dinner. Just as they were sitting down to eat, however, a blond man wearing what looked to be a priest's habit had attacked them, screaming praises to his mighty lord Asura all the while. They had escaped, but only just barely, and Kid had been badly injured.

Maka glanced over at the young god currently helping Soul and Patti set up the tent that served as their home on the road.

Although they hadn't known each other well then, she had been so scared for him. Maka wasn't sure how these things worked for a god, exactly, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Kid would have died except for the intervention of a beautiful stranger.

Tsubaki, her name was, one of the many strikers who had stopped working after Asura began wreaking havoc. She had come across them as they were struggling to carry Kid to the nearest town, and welcomed them into her home. She was a gifted healer, and with her help, Kid had recovered quickly.

Maka smiled as she remembered those sheltered days. She hoped their path would take them back to Tsubaki's doorstep before journey's end, for Liz's sake if nothing else. The way she had tripped all over herself trying to impress the other girl had been both amusing and adorable, and Liz deserved the chance to make something out of that crush she'd nurtured.

It had been a tight squeeze for them in Tsubaki's small cottage, but she had gotten to know the company she was keeping much better, and that time had been crucial to developing the close friendships she now felt she had with all of them. She had learned that Liz was so much more than a pretty face, and that beneath Patti's hyperactive energy there hid the courage of a lion. Soul was prickly but good-hearted, and Kid…

Maka caught Kid's eye as he finished aligning the tent evenly between two trees, and had to look away to hide her blush when he smiled at her.

Well, Kid was something else, he really was.

"Oi, you done with the fire yet?" Soul called from across the campsite, thoroughly interrupting any tender thoughts she might or might not have been entertaining. "I'm starving, we need to cook lunch!"

* * *

Once the bottomless pit that was Soul's stomach (and Patti's, for that matter) had been adequately filled, they began the hike through the forest. It wasn't a long distance to the green, as the crow flies, but the thick underbrush and ravines they had to navigate made for slow going. Maka was infinitely thankful that they were into autumn now and the temperatures had cooled, because this trek through the stillness beneath the trees would have been unbearable in summer weather.

Even so, five minutes in, Liz and Soul got tired of walking; somehow this resulted in the two of them transforming so they could be carried by Kid and Maka respectively. Patti, in her boundless energy, didn't seem to share their ennui.

When the reached the green before the first dimple, Liz transformed back, stepping in line with Kid and Patti as Maka stepped up, observing as she removed one of the precious soul balls from her pouch and delicately placed it on the tee. She aligned herself, eyeing the place a few hundred yards away where a faint cloud of oily smoke indicated Asura's seal on the dimple.

As she was preparing to swing, Kid stopped her, gently correcting her stance. His hands on her hip and shoulder were warm, but she was so aware of his touch that it felt like they were burning. Despite how unwittingly distracting he was being, she forced herself to concentrate and accept his guidance. She had improved immensely in the last couple of months, but she was the kind of person who could never stop striving to get better… and Kid was an _excellent_ teacher.

He stepped back , nodding to indicate she should continue. Maka swung, felt satisfying contact, and watched in delight as the ball sailed through the air trailing emerald and gold sparks in its wake. The ball crashed straight into the dimple, exploded, and immediately a shimmering light fountained up from where it fell. The ground on which the light shone immediately seemed more vibrant, as if the power from deep within the earth had purified the surrounding area.

She bounced delightedly on the balls of her feet, cheering in harmony with Patti, who was fist-pumping enthusiastically. Kid was grinning at her, that small, warm smile that was reserved for moments like this.

There was that joyful sense of camaraderie between them as they walked down the green to the next dimple. It was always like this when they worked on a series. She wasn't sure if it was just the potent magical energy that surged into the air or just the sense of accomplishment, but it always felt so fulfilling.

But something wasn't quite right. Some intuition made her pause, sensing the change in the air, the way the birds had fallen silent—

Maka saw the burst of red light a split second before she was thrown off her feet, the skin of her stomach stinging in pain. The breath was knocked out of her and she struggled to take in air for a moment before she was able to sit up. As she looked around, trying to reorient herself and figure out what had happened, a second flash of light cut through the clearing. Liz screamed and fell facedown… and didn't get up again.

Lurching to her feet and still struggling to get her breath back, Maka saw Patti at her sister's side, crying her name and apparently torn with wanting to turn her over and not wanting to turn her over, because Liz's back was badly burned where the fabric of her shirt had been seared completely away.

For a moment, she was under the impression that they had been attacked by more flunkies, but then Soul said, "Shit, it's _him!_ " Maka looked up and saw Kid engaging in battle with a tall, skeletally thin man, black haired and wearing a robe covered in dark stains that Maka didn't think had come from messy eating habits.

This, then, was Asura?

Kid was holding his own, she realized. Three months ago, he'd only _just_ been strong enough to handle Asura's minions, but they'd been restoring balance, bringing true magic back to the world, and Kid was thriving on it, calling forth the earth itself to aid him. Twining vines burst from the soil and wrapped themselves around Asura's limbs, holding him still even as Kid ripped rocks from the ground, using them to block his opponent's laser attacks, which he appeared to be spitting from his mouth. Maka ducked out of range of shrapnel as a boulder the size of a car was shattered by a particularly intense blast.

But vines and creepers could only hold such a powerful enemy in check for so long, and as Asura began to tear himself free, she could see Kid gradually leading Asura in the opposite direction.

The stinging pain in her torso was lessening, so without another moment's hesitation, she reached down and grabbed Soul's grip. Striker firmly in hand, she turned on her heel - away from the ensuing battle. She took a deep, calming breath. He can handle himself, he's a _god_ , she told herself, but it didn't stop her trembling nor her wince as she heard a sickening crunch of _something_. Regardless, she produced another soul ball. One well-placed swing and a bloodcurdling scream later, she knew she'd hit her mark. It'd been all a part of the plan, after all.

After that terrible encounter with Asura's lapdog priest, they had come up with a plan in the event that they were attacked again. Kid, despite being weakened by the sickly state of the world, was better suited for battle, and he would distract any opponent to buy Maka time to continue opening the dimples. And now it was more crucial than ever that they succeed, because just as Kid was strengthened by order and balance, Asura was strengthened by discord. Opening the dimples now that Asura was here was their best shot at weakening him enough to beat him.

The ruby flashes were incredibly distracting, though, and Maka narrowed her eyes and tried to focus as she retook her stance. She wound up and swung, but just as her striker made contact with the ball, Kid cried out in pain, and she stuttered. Her aim went wide, and the ball exploded impotently yards from the hole, leaving a large area of the green blasted down to the soil, but doing absolutely nothing to open the dimple.

"Shit," she hissed.

"Focus, Maka!" Soul growled, his voice metallic and distant as always when he was in this form.

"I'm _trying_ , but—!"

She stamped her foot impatiently. Under Kid's guidance, she'd gotten pretty good at opening up the dimples, but that was in the peace and quiet of a flowery meadow or under the warmth of island sunshine. Trying to do this with bursts of laser fire still occasionally piercing out from between the trees, with Kid in danger…

"How the hell am I supposed to _do_ this?" she cried out in frustration.

If only Kid could be the one opening up the dimples. He was still so much better at this than she was! And he'd probably be so much more effective, too…

Wait.

 _Wait just one goddamn minute!_

Wasn't the whole reason they'd needed her in the first place because Kid was too weak to do this with the world so out of balance? But over the last two months, he'd gotten so much stronger as they had reopened more and more dimples, hadn't he? As more magic was released into the world, he had seemed calmer, more vital and less frantic, and his skin had lost that waxy paleness that had worried her so when they'd first met. He was strong now, and he would handle this job so much more effectively than she could, and probably faster, too. If only he weren't busy distracting Asura…

Except…

Maka looked down at her torso, at the place just to the left of her navel where she had been struck by Asura's first attack. The fabric had been seared away from an area the size of her palm, and the skin underneath looked pink and irritated, but…

She glanced at Liz, who was still unconscious, and the burn in the center of her back was violently red, raw, and blistering. Yet Maka was sure, _absolutely sure_ , that they had both been hit with the same kind of attack.

Something Blair had said all those weeks ago came back to her: " _Everyone from this world vibrates on the same frequency._ "

That was why they'd wanted someone from her world. They'd wanted someone who wouldn't be affected by the soul balls, right? And if she wasn't quite on the same wavelength as everything else in Pangya, maybe that included Asura and his weapon, too. Maybe that meant she would be even more resistant to his attacks than Kid. Kid, who despite being a god, could still bleed.

She didn't _ever_ want Kid to bleed again.

"Maka, what the hell are you stalling for?" Soul demanded, pulling her out of her reverie. "I don't know about you, but I really don't wanna die today!"

"We've gotta switch," she murmured to herself.

"The fuck are you talking about?"

She chewed on her lip for a moment, eyes on the distant flashes of light somewhere in the trees. "Soul," she said, "didn't you ever wonder why I could use you when nobody else could?"

"I don't know, you have a high tolerance for assholes? Come on, get moving!"

Maka shook her head. "I'm not from this world. I don't vibrate on the– the same frequency, right? And trying to use Liz didn't work so well for me, remember? But we do work well together! Maybe the reason we click is because we're working on the same wavelength… and it's a _different_ wavelength from Asura! We might not be vulnerable to his attacks the way other people are!"

"Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," Soul groaned.

She peered into her bag of soul balls; there weren't many left. Certainly not enough to waste any on her amateurish performance. They needed to change strategies, and they needed to do it _now_.

"We've got to, Soul," she said firmly. "We've _got_ to!"

Soul let out a growl that trailed off into a pathetic whine. " _Fine_ ," he sighed, "but if we die, I swear to Kid _I will haunt you forever_."

Maka allowed a victorious grin to tug at her lips for a few seconds before glancing over at Liz. Her expression sobered as she watched Patti crying quietly and petting at Liz's hair. She could see the steady rise and fall of the older Thompson's chest, but otherwise she was perfectly still.

"Patti, stay here, okay?" she said.

Patti gave a jerk of her head that might have been acknowledgement, and Maka figured that was about as good as she was going to get. With Soul lifted up against her shoulder, she picked up her feet and sprinted in the direction of the ongoing battle.

Kid and Asura had traveled farther away than Maka had expected, but even without the rumbling and explosions, it would have been easy to follow them. The underbrush (not to mention a fair number of trees) was leveled and smoking in their wake. Maka leapt nimbly over smouldering logs and piles of ash following the embattled pair unerringly.

She came upon them very suddenly, so that Kid and Asura saw her at precisely the same time. She saw that yawning mouth with its eerily straight teeth widen, saw red fire bloom deep in his throat—

They were surrounded, very suddenly, by darkness and the smell of loam. Then another of Kid's lights flared to life above his palm, and Maka saw that they were encased in a shell of earth he had raised around them. He was soot-stained and sweaty, his thick dark hair sticking to his forehead.

"Maka, what are you thinking, charging into the middle of a fight like this?" he asked.

She shook her head, trying to get her breath back. Over their heads an explosion sounded, frighteningly nearby, that sent a cloud of dirt cascading down on them. Kid winced, and Maka realized he must be holding back Asura's attacks through brute strength. "Kid, it isn't going to work like this. I don't have enough soul balls to waste any on bad shots, and I'm not as good as you—"

"- Yes you—"

" _No_ ," she interrupted sharply. " _I'm not._ But I was hit by the same kind of attack Liz was, and I'm fine. Something about me is resistant to Asura's attacks. Maybe it's because I'm from another world, maybe I'm just naturally immune, but I'm strong enough to stand up against him... and _you're_ skilled enough to actually open all the dimples. We're not playing to our strengths, Kid."

He looked at her, his gaze calculating and thoughtful. "So you're trying to say that you should fight Asura… and I should open the dimples?"

She nodded. "It makes more sense that way. I mean, back in my world I'm a third-degree black belt in three different types of martial arts. I can handle a whack job like that guy—" She jerked her thumb at the ceiling as an explosion dropped another rainfall of dirt on their heads "—easy peasy. What I can't do is major precision work like opening the dimples under this kind of pressure. But _you_ can!"

Kid's glinting gold eyes were hard to read as he stared at her. "You may be right," he said. "It's an incredible risk, but it may just be worth it."

Maka smiled tersely. "We can do this, I know we can."

Another explosion, another dust cloud.

"Is Liz alright?" Kid asked.

She shook her head. "Still unconscious. She's alive, I saw her breathing, but she's hurt pretty badly."

"And Patti?"

"Stayed with Liz."

He let out a shaky breath. "And you're sure you'll be able to handle Asura? You really are certain he won't just kill you immediately? Your power is of a different kind."

Maka wordlessly gestured to the hole in her shirt, and the healthy skin beneath, irritated and pink but otherwise unblemished.

"Ah. I see."

"Yeah."

Kid stared at her intently for a moment, then said, "Very well. It does seem like the best option."

"I knew you'd see things my way," she said with a cheeky grin.

He gave a reluctant laugh. "Alright, let's go then."

He raised his hand as if about to release their earthy shelter, but Maka stopped him. She was confident that her plan was a good one, but there was one other thing she wanted to do. Just in case.

Kid squeaked when she kissed him, a startled little noise in the back of his throat. His lips were warmer than she had expected. Somehow the paleness of his skin had fooled her into thinking his mouth would be cool against hers. She kept it quick, just a little more than a peck, but it set off emotional fireworks nonetheless.

Maka smiled softly at him when she pulled back. "For luck," she said. She made to turn away, prepared to rush Asura the moment Kid pulled away their protective dome, but she felt a soft hand on her wrist.

Kid tugged her back around and into another kiss. It was just as short, delicate and sweet and oh so fragile, and he was smiling back at her when it was over.

"For luck," he said, the hint of a tease in his voice.

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "Didn't know you had it in you," she said.

"I think you'll find I'm full of surprises." He was definitely teasing her now.

She nudged his shoulder. "Alright, Your Holiness, go kick some golf course butt!"

"I still don't understand why you insist on calling it that," he muttered, but he raised his hand, lowering their shield.

Fresh air rushed in, replacing the earthy scent of soil with a bitter ashy musk, and Maka blinked in the sunlight, glancing around before she spotted Asura, who was much closer than she had expected. Despite herself, she jumped backward.

"Are the lovebirds ready to leave the nest, then?" the demon taunted. "Really, darling, you could do better than my old enemy here."

"Shut the fuck up!" Maka shrieked. Not giving him any time to compose himself, she shot forward and raised Soul to strike him hard in the face.

The way Asura stumbled backwards with a yelp of pain was satisfying.

Maka heard the pounding of Kid's feet as he ran back in the direction of the course, and a satisfied grin crossed her face. "I've had about enough of you," she said to Asura, who was still trying to recover his equilibrium. "You and your nasty pals have made a whole world of trouble for my friends— _literally_."

"And _I_ have had quite enough of _you_ ," Asura said coolly. "I don't tolerate arrogance from irritating buzzing flies." That horrible mouth opened again, and Maka braced herself— lowering Soul just _that_ much in case he wasn't as durable as she had proved to be— and took the impact.

Maka was prepared this time, and although the blast rattled her bones, she wasn't knocked off her feet like before. She clutched Soul's grip hard, breathing through the stinging on her skin, and stared down at the ground as she recovered… and that was when she saw the ripple of light, faint but beautiful and sure, rush over the ground at her feet.

Kid had opened another dimple.

" _How_ are you still standing?" Asura asked, sounding thoroughly rattled.

Maka looked up, and even she would admit that the grin on her face was just a little bit deranged. More than a little bit, actually, if the way his unsettling eyes widened when he saw her expression was anything to go on. "Because I, unlike you, have a God at my side," she taunted.

And then she charged him.

The next few minutes were hazy in her mind. She vaguely registered the regular sweeps of golden light across the ground each time Kid opened a new dimple, and the way that each of them noticeably reduced Asura's strength. She heard— but did not listen to— Soul's snarky responses to Asura's ever more hysterical taunts. Her senses were alive, but she was barely engaging them. Her whole focus was on hitting Asura as hard and as often as she could, and on trying not to pass out each time he hit her with progressively stronger attacks.

Quite abruptly, though, Asura just quit attacking. He seemed to have hit his limit, and she didn't know if it was something she had done or the fact that there was so much magic in the air that his strength had run dry. At that moment, when she brought Soul smashing down on Asura's head, there was a look of honest surrender on his face.

The demon's eyes closed, an odd expression of peace crossed his face, and then he simply shattered, dissipating into a cloud of oily black smoke much like his seals, that quickly dispersed in the warm autumn breeze.

* * *

The trees rustled softly. The cherry blossoms casted ripples upon the surface of the cerulean lake. The sky shone a little brighter, rays manifesting and casting little spotlights through the fluffy clouds that had gathered against the vast expanse.

Calm had settled in the world once more.

And that very calm smoothed over Kid's own face as he smiled serenely, finally relaxing for the first time in a very long time. He could feel the evil leaving drop by drop as the world realigned itself and with it, his powers returned to him. It radiated off of him in a golden light, one as beautiful as the glowing soul balls that he commanded.

Patti transformed back and rushed over to her sister, who was sitting up now, wincing in pain. Kid could see that his older partner's wounds looked better. The restoration of balance was good for more than just _him_ , it seemed.

A noise somewhere in the treeline caught his attention, and he turned to see Maka and Soul stumbling out of the forest. Soul had Maka's arm over his shoulder, and Kid's heart fumbled a little at the sight. Even from a distance, he could see that Maka was injured.

He hurried to her side, taking her weight from Soul's shoulders and onto his own, cradling Maka close.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concern sending spikes through his nerves.

Her skin looked raw and tender all over, as if she'd been stung by acid, but she smiled at him with the most beautiful light in her eyes. "Sore," she said.

"She put up one hell of a fight," Soul said. "Kicked that asshole straight to hell where he belongs."

Kid felt suddenly, immensely proud of this fierce little warrior a pair of meddling fairies had shoved on him, so much so that he could ignore that ever-present gnawing in his stomach. After all, she was his, if the honesty of her actions were to be trusted. He tucked her still closer to him, and Maka buried herself in his chest, softly but joyfully repeating that _yes_ , they had finally done it. _They won._

He lifted her chin up to meet his misty eyes with careful fingers, interrupting her babbling. "No, Maka. You did it," Kid assured her, smiling from one corner of his face to another, unable to keep his giddy laughter out of his voice.

His words brought on another wave of relief to Maka, and she, too, let out a laugh- one that made the sun shine a little harder and the wind pick up just enough to brush her messy bangs from her forehead. She was beautiful, and he wanted to taste her lips again, but now was not the time...

...as Soul reaffirmed quite sharply when he cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to their strikers.

Forgetting her own injuries, Maka ran to Liz first, sliding onto her knees and grasping her hand, babbling inquiries about her health. Liz seemed too disoriented to do much more than nod dazedly, and Patti's thank yous and congratulations were rushed, and she couldn't bear to ignore her sister for too long. Nevertheless, she pulled Maka in for a one armed hug, and then placed her hand onto Liz's cheek, informing her sister that she wanted to hug her, too, but she didn't want to hurt her back. Liz nodded again, and Maka suspected that she was still too out of it to really process what was happening.

"Strikers are strong," Patti said with a shaky breath. "Kid will heal her later at the mansion."

Kid knelt down alongside her, assuring that he would do everything in his power to help, always.

Another grunt to Maka's side brought her to her feet, and she felt a rush of dizziness start to spread. Just before she fell though, a hand shot to to balance her.

"Woah there, can't have my... erm, my partner falling now," Soul said as he held her steady, letting go once Maka had her footing again.

Kid also got to his feet, taking Maka's hand with a concerned look as she swayed the moment Soul removed his hand.

 _Strange_ , Maka thought as another wave of weariness spreaded through her body, stronger than the last.

Her knees gave in, allowing her body to crumble into the ground, but Kid caught her just before that, holding her close to his chest.

"Maka? What's wrong? How can I help? Maka!?"

Hurried questions fired away, entering through one ear and out the other. She was too tired to listen, so she waved a hand and shook her head, pretending it was enough to answer Kid's worries.

 _No, nothing's wrong,_ she wanted to say. _My skin doesn't hurt at all anymore, I'm just tired, just so so tired..._

But Kid kept on going, panic rising in his voice, stopping only when he heard Patti speak up next to him.

"It's happening again."

"What- what is? No, Maka, keep your eyes open. Eyes on me, _eyes on me_!"

"Remember your last champion? The world is saved; her time is up."

"No, not yet. _Not yet._ I promised her I'd show her the other worlds we didn't get a chance to visit. We had plans-"

A hand rested on his shoulder, stilling his ramblings. "She needs to go back now, Kid. You know the natural order," Patti spoke softly. "I'm sorry."

"Did you… did you all know? Did you all know this was going to-"

Their eyes fell downcast in guilt, giving him all the answers that he needed.

Kid drew a shaky breath, gripping Maka's body tighter against him.

She was a smart girl. She could put the two and two together, even as her consciousness started to fade away. Maka lifted her hand to Kid's cheek, running his smooth skin with her thumb. Though her body had little energy left, her eyes opened wider just once more to see the god's silhouette against the gorgeous Pangya sky.

On her lips was a whisper.

 _A thank you._

A thank you for the fun. A thank you for the memories. A thank you to all. And a thank you to him.

Silence draped over the group of friends as Maka's body forced her into a slumber, her hand dropping from his face to her side, a reminder that she wasn't a part of the world to begin with, the echos of their own goodbyes left unsaid. Too late.

They offered their final words and their love to her. Patti laughed about how Maka almost threw their mansion's security system when she began to crack open their front door. Soul monotonically recalled their first meeting, when he all but called her crazy when she announced that she would save the world from Asura. He scoffed. So much could change in so little time. One by one, they shared their memories of Maka, even if she couldn't hear them.

Kid pulled her closer, hanging his head over her. "What use am I as a god if I can't keep someone I care close to me?" He left the remainder of his thought unsaid, knowing that their hearts had connected long enough in those brief moments. After a moment, his eyes hardened and he propped her up against his chest. "Time to send her home."

He summoned a soul ball with a wave of his hand, throwing it into the dimple at his feet.

"I'll see you next time, Maka."

* * *

 **A/N-** So Ness and I couldn't agree on an ending. She's an angst monster, and I wanted there to be fluffy cute stuff. So we have both options for you! A choose-your-own-adventure sort of thing (appropriate for a video game AU, don't you think?).

If you want the sad, angsty ending, proceed to chapter 4. If you want the cutes, proceed to chapter 5.

If you would simply like to let the fic end here for you and imagine your own ending, then we'll wave you on your way with a fond farewell and an endless fountain of thank yous for even reading this far!


	4. Sad Epilogue

**Angst Ahoy!**

* * *

Kid was the first to sense it. It was his world after all, his dimension, his realm. There was nothing that could happened that could ever escape him, and so when the shift in energy tilted, tipping the scale completely over, he felt it deep within him. It crashed into him, ripping him apart from the inside with a searing force. His pain was indescribable, "savage" and "primitive" were only words at the tip of the iceberg.

He clutched his stomach, falling to his knees just as he saw the bright honey-yellow portal in front of him vibrate. It jerked and its once clear lines ran jagged. Kid heard a horrified gasp beside him, but another wave of heat brought red to his eyes. The dimple emitted static now, its beat no longer smooth, but grating. The redness dyed the light in a sickly purple hue, as if it were poisoned.

There was a disturbance rising again, pushing with powers far greater than Kid's own, imploding his state of mind, his balance. A body fell next to him, crumpling onto the grass that shriveled into a murky mixture of black and brown. The blades were morphing into thorns.

He struggled to pull the good energy back from wherever it went, back into his falling world, but he grasped only more red, more red that resembled the madding feeling that ran through them all. It was horrifying.

"Little God," A chill sank into his bones. "You didn't think that you could beat me, did you?" Maniacal laughter echoed in his world, rumbling through his earth and through his sky. "You can't conquer madness!"

And then the world tipped on its side, the ground broke and the clouds tore apart, everything shattering into a mess, and Kid felt it all. His stomach gnawed on itself and he felt bile making its way up his throat. One ball of light disappeared, and then more, and then more, and each one felt like his own soul was ripping apart. He knew that life was ending all around them, even the people who stood next to him had been disappearing off the face of their planet.

They had it all wrong. They shouldn't have been closing the cores indiscriminately, they should have known. The energy that flowed through their world, Asura had tricked them, pretended to want closed the holes, to seal that flow, but Kid and Maka had opened up more places for Asura's madness to trickle in. This was his plan all along, to change the energy, not to prevent it.

The trees darkened into black, drying out and squeezing into itself, and the cherry blossoms that surrounded them changed to scarlet, dripping off of the branches like the flow of blood. He heard the screams of his citizens loudly, clearly in his ears, and he echoed them, yelling over all the grating noise. His head felt like it was going to split open, his skin pricked at the vibrations in the air.

The evil energy that had once been sealed were all breaking through now, opened by his brother, despite Maka's efforts to open the good, pure energy, and Kid could just feel every single one of them, pouring more malice, more evil, more madness into his once balanced world.

But, what happened to Maka?

He looked up at the once shining, dazzling dimple that Maka had disappeared through, only to see that it was fading out, drawing in the madness itself, sucking it in like a vortex. It grew wider, even as it was disappearing, increasing its suction and pulling in more energy.

 _No_ , Kid screamed inwardly. If the portal really connected to Maka's world, if it really worked the way that it should, then the evil that was taking over this world was slowly becoming transferred into Maka's. And what about her?

He heard a cry just then, and it sounded just like her, just like Maka.

It was hurting her, too. The death of his world was affecting her, ruining her. There was nothing he could do to protect her. Except….

Even gods had gods who ruled above them, and even they had rules and limits that governed their universe. Kid's father reminded him as such before, telling him that a God mustn't let his own world control him, and that gods had the power to bend his own realm. Kid never figured it out, never tried, too, because that was his balance.

But now, he tapped into it, his potential and his own energy. It was dying, but it was there, and Kid grasped it, molding it within himself. It was painful, his own world literally crashing into itself, but he tried.

Kid jumped into the portal.

He was suspended in a darkness, in the chaos, in the mess of the universe. He was in between dimensions and it felt eerily familiar, but it was empty. There was nothing else there except- he could feel Maka's presence swirling around him. Feelings of despair mixed in, touching his soul and he swatted away as if it had stung him.

But he couldn't touch an emotion.

They continued to bombard him, swarming him as he panicked.

Frustration. Doubt. Shame. Guilt.

They were all here, and they were all Maka's.

Kid was torn, his own pain joined and spreaded among hers that beated down on him. He'd fleed Pangya to save himself, left it to ruin as Asura wrecked it inside and out. He'd felt his citizens as they disappeared from the world, no doubt caused by the beasted that Asura had summoned. Now, he was invincible. Dark energy poured from every dimple while Kid's own was sapped from him. Was there no other way to stop the madness?

He had to try.

Summoning his power once more, he gritted his teeth and silently prayed to his father, apologizing, crying that this was the only way to reverse the damage that'd fall upon the world, that he would be performing a breaking a taboo. But he didn't want to be controlled any longer by the reins that kept him in check, and he had nothing else to lose except everything that he was trying to save.

He would become the One, gaining enough strength to reverse time as they knew it, to restart everything as if this entire adventure had never happened. To reset the timeline back before Asura had a chance to begin to manipulate them.

But he would lose everything that happened before that time. There was no saving the months that he'd spent with Maka together on their journey, teaching her the customs of his land. No saving their small chats and their quiet nights, huddled by the fire. No saving the memories of their first kiss nor their love. His heart weighed heavily as he felt himself growing in size.

And even after he gathered enough energy to temporarily become a mighty god, and even after he expelled it on his realm, making time tick backwards, he used just one more drop of good to gather Maka's essence in his hands, reforming her into the girl he'd come to know, and he whispered to her.

"I'm sorry, it's time to play again."

* * *

 **A/N:** Ness and I would like to thank you for putting up with our nonsense for roughly 17K words, if you made it this far you're a real trooper, and we're endlessly grateful for your attention!


	5. Happy Epilogue

**Fluff Ahoy!**

* * *

She stepped lightly on the pathway, walking slowly- if not deliberately stalling- towards the coffee house where she'd once accompanied Jackie and Kim. It'd been a week since she was found close by to the shop, knocked out from a flying shoe and embarrassingly left to crumple on the ground like a bad hit and run accident. Maka woke up to the smell of strong coffee under her nose, and a worried barista who had seen it all happen and had carried her into the back room, staying with her until she woke up, just like a perfect gentleman. After her initial shock, she'd promised him that she'd see him again, to properly thank him before she ran home before the sun had set.

Basically, she'd left him hanging for a week, and nothing to show for except for a box of cupcakes that she'd baked just that morning in guilt as she struggled to gather enough courage to meet the boy again. Maka sighed. On one hand, she could forget about the whole thing, march home, and put on Kingdom Hearts 3 so that she could finish her last word, never stepping foot in this neighborhood again. On the other hand, she could meet with her savior who'd treated her so kindly and even gone pass the line of duty, assuming that he hadn't forgotten about her yet.

Her fingers gripped the box more tightly, praying to her god that she wouldn't run away like her previous attempts at walking down the same road that she was on now.

She opened the door to the coffee house with intentions of slipping in quietly, but the bell on the door alerted everyone in the vicinity that she was there. However, no one bothered to turn their heads at her, calming down the vicious beat of her heart back down to just- no, it was still beating just as fast.

"Hey."

The box slipped from her hands, falling to the ground as she reached for it, catching it before it hit the ground. But she felt fingers under hers, holding them up along with her cupcakes. She traced them back to hands, and then arms, and then finally a face familiar to the one she'd awoken to just a week ago.

Ah, crap.

"H-hi! I'm- I was just in the- ah!"

The box stumbled again in her palm; this time it dropped to the floor in a sad thump. The barista chuckled, squatting down to retrieve it, and he returned to her side with a mischievous twinkle in his golden eyes. It took everything in her to try to suppress her embarrassment, but her cheeks flared and her lips pressed into a line.

"Is this for me?"

She nodded.

"A thank you for last time?"

Another nod.

He bursted out laughing, covering his mouth with his free hand as he tried to continue. "Thank you for this, but it was my pleasure to help." He paused to regain his breath. "You didn't have to, you know."

Maka looked down at his feet. "I just happened to bake them in the morning."

"Ah, bake? Oh no."

The boy lifted the lid, only to discover that the cupcakes were turned over in an unsightly mess. Maka squeezed her fists tighter, her blush spreading more and more as disaster emerged. But he reached in, tearing off a piece from the top, and he popped it into his mouth, savoring the bite as Maka gasped in surprise.

"But- but they're ruined-"

He licked a finger before responding to her. "That doesn't change the taste, right Maka?" At her bewildered expression, he admitted that her friends had told him her name, though he didn't have a chance to give him hers before she left. "I'm Kid," he said. "Why don't we sit for coffee and share these?"

She hesitated at first, but at the sight of his warm face and his open hand gesturing towards an open table, Maka finally nodded. It was the least she could do after he'd taken care of her. Kid reached there first, pulling the chair out and looking at Maka in expectation. She sat down, allowing him to push her slightly into the table at a comfortable distance.

He then left for a short while, coming out again in a few short minutes with her cupcakes stacked on a clean plate and another plate of croissants. He set them in the middle of the table and a co-worker of his carried two mugs of different drinks, leaving Kid to explain that he'd remembered what Maka had ordered last time, a French vanilla latte, while he had his own peppermint infused coffee.

So he was both polite and attentive, Maka bemused. And as their time together passed by, their faces were sore from laughter and their food had vanished. Not only was he kind, and funny, and just a comfort to be around, he was also an artist, someone who sketched random items that he was too embarrassed to show to anyone, among more details that Maka found to be- well, a little cute.

Before they parted, Kid rubbed the back of his head, a little shy and a little nervous, but Maka encouraged him on. He asked her if she'd be interested in seeing some of his drawings, and perhaps she could share her distaste for golf some other day, maybe when he was off work.

It didn't take her long to agree to meet up with him again.

Why not, maybe it was the start of a new adventure.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ness and I would like to thank you for putting up with our nonsense for roughly 17K words, if you made it this far you're a real trooper, and we're endlessly grateful for your attention!


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